Whether you travel for work or fun, to seek adventure or to get away from your troubles, some things are always necessary: You need a place to lay your head and you need food in your belly. There are hundreds of articles on finding good lodging, as well as dozens of websites dedicated to helping you find the best deals on a hotel. Finding good restaurants isn’t quite as easy. But then again, it’s really not that tough….
Category: Dining & Restaurants
Gebroeders Hartering
Do you know how I know that Gebroeders Hartering is a good restaurant? If you search for them on Google, their website is the 5th result listed, after all of the Yelp, Trip Advisor, The Fork, and other rating websites. This little restaurant is a true gem. Tucked away on a side street on the east side of the city, overlooking a canal, even the taxi driver didn’t know where it was. The first problem was that I kept calling it “The Brothers Hartering” which is technically how it’s translated, but it confused the guy. But it’s also a fairly small venue, so he had to stop and ask someone where it was. As for the restaurant itself, make a reservation and go. It’s worth it.
Dining In Reykjavik
Who would have guessed that Reykjavik would be a culinary delight? I mean, seriously; they have minimal farmland, they have to use greenhouses to grow vegetables, and they live in fear of volcanoes and earthquakes every day. But I guess all that hardship and fear has given them a lust for life that can be found in some of their food. But not in the hot dogs. I’ll get to that in a bit. Just for reference, the conversion rate when I was there was about 1,000 kroners = $8. Unsurprisingly, a lot of drinks cost 1,000 kroners. I guess they don’t like making change for drunk tourists who can’t figure out the local Monopoly money.
Michelin Stars and Rossellinis
Do you know where the Michelin restaurant star rating system came from? I didn’t, until I started researching this trip. Michelin, the tire company that uses the Stay-Puft marshmallow man as a spokesperson, used to put out a guidebook for people on road trips. This was back in the days when the internet wasn’t even a real word yet. In the guidebook, they’d list all of the restaurants that you could stop at along your travels. I remember going on family road trips in the 80’s and using the AAA guidebook in the same way. But apparently the folks at Michelin took it one step further. They started rating restaurants. Any restaurant with at least one Michelin star is worth going to. It’s not like Yelp, where a roach coach can get a star. A one Michelin star restaurant is likely a better restaurant than you’ve been to in the past year, possibly better than you’ve ever been to.